Healthy Breakfast Quinoa with Coconut Milk and Apples

A good morning starts with a hearty meal, like this warm, healthy breakfast quinoa with coconut milk and apples. It’s wholesome, sweet, filling, and only 275 calories.

I never thought I’d see the day that Daniel woke up and ate something sweet for breakfast. This is a man who has ultra-savory meals first thing in the morning. Sometimes it’s chicken. Sometimes it’s steak. I’ve even seen him eat fish—and I’m not talking lox. It’s dinner for breakfast.

He tells me he’s just never really in the mood for waffles or french toast or pancakes or even omelets and eggs.

Can I, in good conscience, marry a man who disrespects breakfast like this?

Because I love breakfast foods—every last one of them.

Last week, though, Daniel woke up and made himself a bowl of oatmeal. And liked it. I stood in the kitchen and stared. When I asked him if I had died and this was heaven, he told me, “I just felt like oatmeal.” Huh.

The next morning, I was feeling lucky. Knowing the oatmeal had been a success, I made this recipe: warm quinoa porridge cooked in light coconut milk (Daniel is crazy for anything with a slight coconut flavor–and this has just enough to do the trick), topped with apples that I sautéed in a little bit of coconut oil, cinnamon, and a spoonful of orange marmalade, which glazed the apples just a bit.

I sprinkled his bowl with toasted walnuts and poured some extra coconut milk on top for creaminess just before I served it. The verdict? He’s requested it half a dozen more times since! He loved that it was different than oatmeal in texture, had a whole lot of flavor with just the right amount of sweetness from the apples–not too much (we’re still trying to keep it healthy and low in sugar!) but enough for it to be flavorful.

Try this healthy quinoa breakfast bowl for a spin on your traditional oatmeal. Make it ahead and reheat it with a little milk (light coconut milk or vanilla almond milk) for easy weekday mornings!

Instructions

In a small pot, combine the quinoa and coconut milk. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the quinoa has absorbed the coconut milk, about 15 minutes. Pay attention as the quinoa is done cooking and stir more frequently to prevent burning.

Meanwhile, in a large nonstick skillet, heat the coconut oil over medium-high heat. Add the apple slices and cinnamon and toss to coat the apples in the cinnamon and oil. Add the water and cook, stirring frequently, until the apples are tender and golden, about 5 minutes. Remove the pan from heat and stir in the orange marmalade.

To serve, spoon about 1/2 cup of quinoa into 4 bowls. Divide the cinnamon-orange apples among the bowls and sprinkle the top of each with 1 tablespoon of chopped pecans.

This sounds so delicious! Andie, would it be possible to add in the Saturated fat for this & future recipes? We need them to count Smart Points now. If not, I can always put it into Recipe Builder, but thought I’d ask :) Love your blog & recipes! – Jacquie

This sounds delicious! Most of the time my go-to breakfast is just scrambled eggs, but I LOVE waffles and sweet things if I go out to eat for breakfast. This weekend I just had red velvet waffles with whipped cream cheese. OMG.

The other day I made Caesar salad and spaghetti for breakfast (like not leftovers- actually cooked for breakfast) and texted a picture to two of my friends and captioned them “breakfast of champions”. So, I am with Daniel on this (and you-because, like, waffles). I think fish and cheese grits make a fantastic morning breakfast and that eggs for supper (do northerners say supper?) sound sublime. But the reason I was really excited about the spaghetti is that I had used Andean Dream brand quinoa pasta and found my antipasta-pasta soul mate! It was not all mushy like rice pasta and it wasn’t a weird color (Asian bean noodles that look like glue anyone?). I actually thought y’all might like this pasta bc plant protein for you & low carb for Daniel. I can’t say it will be your thing but it is definitely on repeat at my house! This recipe looks great! Trying to build up bravery for coconut milk- coconut flakes and such aren’t my thing- but I hear good things about the milk :) coconut oil however? The memes that say “pours coconut oil over entire life” currently sum up my life.

Yum! I live in East Africa so apples are a bit pricier (and admittedly the 4 pound bag of quinoa came in my suitcase…), but mangoes are easy! This may become my new version of mango sticky rice for dessert!